PBR Finals - The Las Vegas Experience IV

(I will be doing a seven part series of the seven days in Las Vegas for the PBR finals. Each day in Vegas will be posted for the next seven consecutive days.)

Before I get started on this blog, I did want to mention that I left something out of the previous blog. When we were leaving the draft on Wednesday night, I got the chance to talk to Cody Lambert while we were waiting in the valet line to get our cars. There were several things that I wanted to ask Cody. Since I'm not shy, I asked away. First I asked Cody why he was judging and doing the replay in Columbus. He said due to a scheduling problem, they were short handed and he had to step in. I talked about his correct call on the Austin Meier ride when he clocked Austin at 8.88 seconds on the replay and one of the judges stopped the clock at 7.3 seconds. I told him that I replayed it and figured the chute judge started the arena clock late and that's why there was a difference and I had explained that on the PBR comment section. He looked at me and said "So, that was you on the comment section that was defending me?" I said yes. He said he got to the office and the PBR people told him that he was getting hit on the comment section, but there was someone who was defending him. He then told me "thanks, I like you." LOL. Also, on the comment section the question came up about riders voting for the finals judges and why would they vote in the replay judge that had been suspended earlier in the year, and missed a call late in the year. Cody said that the riders only vote for the four judges at the finals, not the replay judge. In regards to the replay judge, he said that one replay judge was one of the four judges suspended and they only had one replay judge left. He is training two more judges, but they were not ready to work at the finals.

Now, onto the daily blog. Today was the lightest day for us, by design. If you go to everything the PBR has for the fans, you can quickly get burned out. Although we really wanted to go to the "Stock Contractor Tours", we decided to sleep in and have this day as just "our" day (at least up until the event itself). After sleeping late we got lunch and went bowling. With a swollen knee and not able to use my own ball, I still beat Tammie pretty handily. :) We had a good time and just tried to relax and spend some time together, without bull riding be the main point. I recommend this to anyone. Take time to just soak in Vegas and being on a "vacation". Whether it's a show, movie, bowling, shopping, eating, gambling or just walking the different hotels, it's important to get your mind and body refreshed.

After spending the day at the hotel and spending "us" time, it was time for the PBR. Tammie wanted to get to the arena early and attend the "red carpet" entrance of the riders, starting at 4:00pm. There is a circle drive that is in front of the arena and the PBR has a red carpet the riders walk down and a canopy over head. Many of the riders will stop and take pictures, sign autographs and at the end of the walk, many are stopped and asked a few questions by one of the announcers for the crowd to hear. When a rider gets out of their vehicle, the MC announces the rider or riders and the crowd responds. Tammie was able to get some good pictures and one of our friends ended up on TV as he stepped onto the carpet to get Renato's signature. After awhile I got tired of standing and walked through the fan zone while Tammie continued to click away.

Around 5:00pm the red carpet entrance finished and we made our way into the arena. I went to our seats, as I had to make some business calls and Tammie met me a few minutes later. As you are sitting in your seat and the start of the event continues to get closer (6:00pm) your adrenaline continues to rise. The anticipation of the opening and the first ride builds and you start squirming in your seat wanting the clock to tic a little faster. Then the lights go completely dark and you know the time has arrived.

Just like the night before, Dustin Elliott was the first rider and Dustin, just like the night before, did not disappoint. He started the night with a successful ride on Top Notch for an 87.00. The next rider was Cody Campbell. He had picked Major Payne and has been on him numerous times. The results of this night were just like the previous outs on this bull, no score and a buck off time of 2.3 seconds. Harve Stewart had Ranger Red and when the ride ended, the clock showed 7.8. He immediately went to the challenge button, but after review, the time was actually 7.5. Aaron Roy got his second ride of the finals, in as many rounds, with an 87.25 on Who Dat.

In Flight 2, Colby Yates also had a challenge with his time stopping at 7.7 on Straight Jacket. After review, his fate was the same as Harve, no score, with a time of 7.69. Ned Cross got his second score of the event with an impressive ride on Black Pearl and a score of 91.00, our first 90 point ride of the finals. The confetti was flying. In Flight 3, Wesley Lourenco continued to impress with an 89.50 on Red Hot and Chris Shivers was involved in the scariest wreck of the night. He was banged around by the bull and fell to the ground and was unconscious for a short time. He was helped out of the arena and amazingly came back later in the event and ended up getting an 88.25 on Mission Accomplished.

In Flight 4, the first rider up was Kody Lostroh on VooDoo Child. The night before, Cody Lambert said that Kody's ride on VooDoo Child in last years finals was the best riding he had ever seen, even if it didn't result in a score. However, on this night, VooDoo Child did not have a good out, for him, and Kody didn't either. He was bucked off in 6.4 seconds In Flight 5 there were no scores, with 10 riders not making the 8. Silvano came close with 7.6 on Kabookie and McKennon Wimberly lasting 7.4 on Carrillo Cartel. But, close doesn't mean a thing.


In Flight 6, the last and final flight of the night, Valdiron de Oliveira had the highest score of the night with a score of 91.50 on Spit Fire. Not many riders like Spit Fire, much less ride him, but Valdiron seems to be one of those that can. Renato had chosen Chicken On A Chain the night before and many expected Renato to ride him, and he did. Chicken was a little different out this time but was still good enough to earn Renato a score of 89.00 points. The last two riders, JB Mauney and Austin Meier did not get qualified rides, neither lasting more than 4.1 seconds. Renato, which came into the finals in third and 1300 points behind, continued to close the gap and move closer to the first position.


The event ended and we made our way over to the press conference. In the press conference they had Ned Cross, who was the current event leader, Valdiron, who had the highest score of the night and Renato who was second in the event average. Some interesting points: Ned was asked about the draft and he said he didn't particular care for it. He said "The draft can really mess with your mind trying to figure out if you are making the right choice". When asked how he feels being the leader of the event, he said "it feels great, but there is a long way to go". Valdiron was asked about picking Spit Fire and he said his son told him to pick the bull because he thought he could ride him. Renato was asked about Chicken on a Chain and Renato said that the bull was more difficult to ride this time because he made some different moves than he had before. After the press conference, I talked to Renato and told him that I thought he should have been scored a little higher. He smiled and said with excitement "Yes, me too".

We made our way over to the Hard Rock Hotel and the fan zone as the third round draw was about to take place. Cody Lambert was a hoot most of the week, but especially this night. Many of the guys coming onto the stage were having fun and even some that just weren't riding their bulls. Chris Shivers came on stage and brought his son with him. Chris picked his son up so he could reach into the cup and draw out a chip that corresponded with a number next to a bull. Cody Lambert said "I'm glad Chris picked his son up, because I knew somebody had to pick one of the two of them up to get the chip". Then Stormy Wing came on stage and had Sean Willingham come with him. Sean picked Stormy up so he could help him reach into the cup. Brendon Clark came on stage and Wiley followed him. Brendon is doing some live video feeds, so Wiley had his phone out and pretended to follow Brendon around on the stage and filmed him. Fun had by all and it certainly made it entertaining for the fans.

After the draw, we made our way back to the hotel, but stopped at IHop. Breakfast food at 11:00pm sounded good. After eating dinner/breakfast, we stayed up some on the computer and I spent time working on my calculator trying to figure were everybody stood in points and position. When I finally shut my eyes, all I could hear was Tammie's fingers working away on her pictures and all I could see was my calculator and numbers. So, when I finally fell asleep, I wasn't counting sheep, but I was counting bull rides and scores.